Evaporated device for the evaporation of volatile products with variable evaporation intensity by interposition of a mobile brushing

ABSTRACT

A device is disclosed meant to perform evaporation of insecticides, perfumes or the like, wherein the degree of evaporation is controlled by a moving cap ( 9 ) which makes up the regulating element ( 6 ), which is meant to produce a chimney effect in the upwards motion of the generated vapor, so that this effect enhances evaporation, while regulation is achieved by the different heights at which moving cap ( 9 ) can be placed. This displacement is performed manually by moving guide ( 13 ) inside inclined track ( 10 ).

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a device designed to evaporate volatileproducts for air fresheners, insecticides or similar substances, by heatprovided by electrical resistors, in order to enhance the evaporation ofthe product which soaks a wick from the product container.

The invention centers on the means which the device incorporates inorder to allow an adjustable intensity of evaporation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Volatile substance evaporators are widely known in the market, generallyapplied to insecticides or perfumes, and having a vessel containing theproduct to be evaporated, which rises by capillarity through a wickwhich leads the product near heating resistors which by their heat causethe evaporation.

In order to adapt use of these devices to different utilizationconditions or consumer preferences, the rate of evaporation of thesubstances may be controlled, thus releasing a larger or smaller amountof evaporated product to the surroundings.

In this sense patent application No. 9,701,388 is known, in which one ofthese devices is disclosed where the rate of evaporation is controlledby changing the relative position of the wick and the heating element.

In this device, the electrical heating resistors are static, and it isthe container and the wick which move axially by means of a threading inorder to change the degree of exposure of the wick in the area ofinfluence of the heating resistors.

These devices seek to combine simplicity and economy of production withefficiency and ease of use, as well as to make this use attractive tothe consumer.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention here disclosed has been designed to provide an evaporatorfor volatile products with adjustable evaporation rate, in which themeans which make the evaporation possible imply greater simplicity ofconstruction and an easier and more pleasant operation of the device.

The adjustment of the rate of evaporation is achieved by a moving cap,which ill addition to providing the evaporator with the aforementionedcharacteristics, allows a more efficient regulation of the evaporationof the volatile product than in previously known systems.

In this way the volatile product evaporator is made from the basicstructure for these devices, with a case or body which houses theheating resistors and extemalliy forming a plug for connection to theelectrical mains, for power supply to the heating resistances. As a rulethese resistors are of the PTC type.

The lower end of the case is provided with means of coupling the vesselcontaining the volatile product, either by screwing on or by any otherconventional technique, so that it may be replaced by a new vessel whenthe content is exhausted.

Inside the vessel is a cylindrical wick which absorbs the liquid byporosity so that it rises up through it until it is near the heatingresistors.

Based on this known arrangement of these devices, the invention iscentered in that in order to determine the rate of evaporation, theevaporator is provided with a cap which can be manually axially moved,inside which is housed the wick soaked with the volatile product.

The function of the cap is to create a chimney effect which affects therise of the vapor generated in the wick, so that this chimney effectincreases the rising speed of this vapor, thereby increasing the rate ofevaporation.

The axial displacement of this cap determines different heights for it,partially completing the path of the vapor to the outlet orifice. Thelonger this path the greater the chimney effect in the evaporation andvice versa, with a maximum and minimum position being defined bylimiting the cap displacement with stops placed inside the case in asuitable manner.

The cap is connected to an arm which ends in a guide, meant to projectout from the case through an inclined groove which defines thedisplacement of this guide. The user will operate this guide manually,which has a shape adapted to the inclined groove so that it may slide init in either direction, upwards or downwards, thereby axially displacingthe cap and adjusting the rate of evaporation.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further advantages and characteristics of this invention will becomeapparent from the accompanying drawings, attached to the presentdescriptive memory as an integral part and where for purposes ofillustration only and in a non-limiting way the following is shown:

FIG. 1 shows a sectional profile view of the evaporator device with anintermediate position of the movable cap.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the piece which makes up the movablecap.

FIG. 3 shows a front elevation of the elements which are part of theinvention with the product container vessel coupled and with the cap inits maximum position.

FIG. 4 is a similar view to the previous one seen from a side.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the elements which are part of theinvention without the container and the wick with the cap in its minimumposition.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows the elements which together make up the evaporator device,which is based on case (1) which forms a plug (3) for connection to theelectrical mains. Within case (1) is housed and anchored heater (5),with PTC type resistors acting as heat generating elements uponconnection to the electrical power supply through plug (3).

The lower end of case (1) has an opening for coupling of vessel (2),which contains the volatile product, which rises through wick (4), whichin turn passes through an orifice made for this purpose in heater (5) inorder to expose the volatile product to the heat generated there.

The vapor produced in this way rises and flows to the outside throughorifice (8).

The invention is centered on the inclusion of the regulating element (6)which consists of the movable cap (9) which is placed between wick (4)housed inside it and heater (5) as seen in this FIG. 1, so that it canmove axially between the two elements.

The axial displacement is transmitted to the movable cap (9) by arm(12), which is connected to its upper part and which connects it toguide (13) which has its upper and lower extremes inclined and parallel.

In addition, on the front side wall of case (1) is provided an inclinedtrack (10), closed internally by internal wall (17) which forms a windowin case (1), as well as forming lower ramp (7) and upper ramp (14). Thisinclined track (10) houses guide (13) and is shaped to adapt to it, withthe inclination of its edges matching that of ramps (7) and (14) onwhich they will slide, guide (13) being the component on which the useracts in order to regulate the rate of evaporation.

The motion of guide (13) is limited by the internal size of inclinedtrack (10), so that the regulation element (6) is correctly placed atall times, which correct positioning is also aided by the position ofmovable cap (9) within the cylindrical orifice of the heater (5).

In this way the lateral displacement of guide (13) in either directionand due to its inclination and that of the inclined track (10) has theeffect of raising or lowering the regulator element (6) and thereforecausing the axial displacement of movable cap (9).

The presence of this movable cap (9) causes a chimney effect in thevapor which is generated, since it creates an upwards channel for thevapor which stops it from spreading to the sides and creating a ridingvapor current. As this vapor does not spread to the sides and ischanneled it empties the inside of case (1) through orifice (8) morequickly, generating an upwards suction of the air in movable cap (9)which accelerates evaporation.

The different vertical positions for movable cap (9) allow it to createa chimney effect in the entire path of the vapor until it leaves orifice(8) thus establishing a maximum evaporation rate, or to partiallycomplete this path, allowing the vapor to diffuse partially in nearbyareas to a greater or lesser degree, thus managing to regulated the rateof evaporation.

In this preferred embodiment the position of guide (13) which definesthe degree of evaporation is the one shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, when it isin the extreme right hand position within inclined track (10), makingthe movable cap (9) complete the entire path of the vapor.

On the top the regulating element (6) forms battlements (11) which areused as stops for its vertical motion when they hit case (1), as seen inFIGS. 3 and 4. In this maximum position annular wall (16) formed by case(1) is coupled inside battlements (11) to create an extension of themovable cap (9).

The position which results in a minimum rate of evaporation is the oneshown in FIG. 5, with guide (13) in the leftmost position in inclinedtrack (10), displacement in this direction also being limited by contactwith arm (12) on heater (5). In this position as seen in this samefigure, the vapor is allowed to spread to the sides, so that the chimneyeffect is minimal and therefore so is the evaporation, which in thispoint will be determined by the relative position between wick (4) andheater (5), as well as by their construction.

In addition, in the lowermost position of movable cap (9) it isinterposed in the heat transmission between heater (5) and wick (4),thus reducing further the minimum rate of evaporation distancing it fromthe maximum value. In this way a greater regulation capacity isprovided.

So that the user can identify several positions of guide (13), which isto say, rates of evaporation, the invention shall provide a graded scale(15) on the front side wall where inclined track (10) is located, whichcan consist of any type of marks which determine these positions.

In this preferred embodiment, regulating element (6) is made in plastic,although depending on the application of the evaporating device it canbe made in any other material, since it may be interesting for theregulator element (6) to participate in heat transmission between heater(5) and wick (4).

Since the main characteristic of the invention consists of the use ofthis chimney effect to regulate the extent of evaporation, the inventionforesees as an option, that the system with which the axial displacementof movable cap (9) is achieved can be any other which provides the sameeffect, whether by screwing or any other, with the intervention ofdifferent means.

What is claimed is:
 1. Evaporator for volatile products wit vapourevaporation rate controlled by means of an interposed moving cap,applicable to the evaporation of insecticides, perfumes or similar,comprising: a case which forms a plug for electrical power supply, saidcase having an exit orifice, a heater disposed in said case, said heaterbaying a heater orifice and an area of influence, a replaceablecontainer for storage of a volatile product and having a wick throughwhich a volatile product rises to reach said area of influence of saidheater, and a movable cap interposed between said wick and said heater,said cap being axially movable between said wick and said heaterorifice, wherein the regulation of the degree of vapour evaporation isperformed by said movable cap, such that said cap defines a conduct forthe vapour generated to rise, causing a chimney effect which favoursevaporation as it accelerates the upwards flow of the vapour, regulationbeing obtained by the different positions of said movable cap, so thatthe rising path of the vapour is completed to a lesser or greater degreeuntil it leaves through said exit orifice, while simultaneously a moreefficient evaporation is obtained, and in flat the interposition of saidmovable cap between said wick and said heater distances the extremes ofevaporation, to allow a greater capacity of regulation.
 2. Evaporator asin claim 1, wherein said case further comprises a front wall having atrack defined by a plurality of inclined ramps, said track being closedby an inner wall, and wherein said evaporator further comprises aregulating element to which said movable cap is connected, saidregulating element further comprising an arm having an upper end and aguide having an inclined upper edge and an inclined lower edge, saidmovable cap being connected to said upper end of said arm and said guidebeing connected to the other end of said arm, said guide beingpositionable within said track, and wherein the regulation of the rateof vapour evaporation is controlled by the displacement of said glidewithin said track, which guide rises or falls on said inclined ramps andwhich displacement of said guide causes, through said arm, thepositioning of said movable cap.
 3. Evaporator as in claim 1, whereinsaid case further comprises a graded scale for identifying severalpositions of said movable cap, and therefore several evaporation rates.4. Evaporator as in claim 2, wherein said case further comprises agraded scale for identifying several positions of said guide, andtherefore several evaporation rates.
 5. Evaporator as in claim 2,wherein said case further comprises an inside having an annular wall,and wherein said regulating element further comprises a lowermostposition and an uppermost position and battlements disposed on saidupper end of said arm, and wherein said uppermost position is determinedby the contact of said battlements with said inside of said case andwherein said lowermost position is determined by the contact betweensaid am and said heater, and wherein said uppermost and lowermostpositions of said regulating element are also determined by the positionof said guide within said track.
 6. Evaporator as in claim 2, whereinsaid regulator element is plastic.